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Yesterday AM I had a nearly dead battery that required a short time on a battery charger before I could start my 2007 (in service in September) Z4M. I drove directly to my dealer where they took the car into the service bays without an appointment, found the battery to be bad, and replaced it. I was out in 30- 45 minutes at no charge. Terrific service!

I live in suburban Cleveland, and the weather here has not really dropped terribly low yet... 35+ in the day. I do have a VERY short commute, but do get the car on the road to run it at least twice a week if I am not out on a ZBimmer drive.

What are thoughts re: the very short commute with butt warmer on, lights on, and heater on contributing to the battery failure? I can easily see the driving I just described pulling more amps than going in again and again, but would that cause a premature failure?

Yesterday AM I had a nearly dead battery that required a short time on a battery charger before I could start my 2007 (in service in September) Z4M. I drove directly to my dealer where they took the car into the service bays without an appointment, found the battery to be bad, and replaced it. I was out in 30- 45 minutes at no charge. Terrific service!

I live in suburban Cleveland, and the weather here has not really dropped terribly low yet... 35+ in the day. I do have a VERY short commute, but do get the car on the road to run it at least twice a week if I am not out on a ZBimmer drive.

What are thoughts re: the very short commute with butt warmer on, lights on, and heater on contributing to the battery failure? I can easily see the driving I just described pulling more amps than going in again and again, but would that cause a premature failure?

EB

Didt they replace it with the black AGM battery that came with the car?

Didt they replace it with the black AGM battery that came with the car?

Ron,

I was so thrilled to be serviced so quickly, I really didn't check or probe, as I knew little about Z4M batteries. I did know enough to as the SA if they replaced it with the "glass mat" battery, and he said that they had only one in stock, and that's what they put into my MCoupe.

Do you advise me checking further, and if so, for what? In the car or on the paperwork?

I was so thrilled to be serviced so quickly, I really didn't check or probe, as I knew little about Z4M batteries. I did know enough to as the SA if they replaced it with the "glass mat" battery, and he said that they had only one in stock, and that's what they put into my MCoupe.

Do you advise me checking further, and if so, for what? In the car or on the paperwork?

I have an '02 325i as well as my '03 2.5l Z. I bought the 325 8 years ago-77K on the odometer and I still have the original battery! I can only believe that:
a-I got a good one
b-I check my H2O levels every 3-4 months and keep the cells filled with distilled water.

What do you think? I plan to buy a new Interstate soon, just to be sure.

I have an '02 325i as well as my '03 2.5l Z. I bought the 325 8 years ago-77K on the odometer and I still have the original battery! I can only believe that:
a-I got a good one
b-I check my H2O levels every 3-4 months and keep the cells filled with distilled water.

What do you think? I plan to buy a new Interstate soon, just to be sure.

Bob

I don't really see the point in replacing a battery before it dies unless it's in a really mission-critical application. Worst-case scenario, you can always push start the car and drive it to somewhere that sells batteries.

I believe the one in my M3 lasted quite awhile, though I was the second owner of that car so it's possible it was replaced by a dealer before I bought the car...

Yesterday AM I had a nearly dead battery that required a short time on a battery charger before I could start my 2007 (in service in September) Z4M. I drove directly to my dealer where they took the car into the service bays without an appointment, found the battery to be bad, and replaced it. I was out in 30- 45 minutes at no charge. Terrific service!
......

What are thoughts re: the very short commute with butt warmer on, lights on, and heater on contributing to the battery failure? I can easily see the driving I just described pulling more amps than going in again and again, but would that cause a premature failure?

EB

Are you by chance running a DICE unit as an iPod interface? They have been known to kill batteries in just a few days.

I believe it's the lower quality of the raw materials (metal) they have been using in batteries from 2005 on. It seems that almost all manufacturers of laptops only warrant the battery for 1 year

Has outsourcing the construction of batteries and other products made it acceptable to reduce a products life cycle by half of previous like products? I am no expert and don't have time to research for supporting info but I am a consumer.